Today’s word is especially useful if you’re gonna spend Christmas with your lover ;)

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verhüten

hüten is related to to heed and originally meant “to watch over something or someone” (with a focus on protection). The away-ver changes that to “to prevent” – you’re on watch so something stays away.
Today,  verhindern is the standard translation for to prevent –  except in one very relevant field: sex. Verhüten is THE word for to use any kind of contraception and it’s only used in that context. 
das Verhütungsmittel – contraceptive

• Wir haben nicht verhütet.
• We didn’t use a contraceptive.

• Wie verhütest du?
• Which way of contraception do you use?

By the way… hüten comes from the same root as the hat or der Hut. The Indo-Eurpean root *kadh- meant “cover, protect, protective cover”.